Rainbow Hamantaschen

Here they are!!! Finally here!!! You know that feeling you get when you’ve have an idea in your head and when you finally execute it, it actually works?!? Yeah, that’s how I feel right now. When my sister and I first started talking about rainbow hamantaschen one year ago, I thought that there had to be a recipe already out there on some amazing blog that I drool over but when I started searching, I found nothing. Nothing! That got me very excited because I knew I had something great…so now I just had to get it done and do it right. I had seen a recipe for multicolored Pinata Cookies that looked so beautiful and that gave me the idea for how I wanted to create the rainbow layers for my hamantaschen. The layers don’t have to be perfect and you can use any colors you want so there’s really no way to ruin these. Gotta love that freedom. The best part is that these rainbow hamantaschen worked on the first try and not one opened while baking. You should see my Girl Scout Samoa Hamantaschen from a few years ago! The entire first batch opened up. But not this time!

So now, without any further ado, here are my show stopping rainbow hamantaschen and the step-by-step pictures of the process! Please note that this recipe is very time consuming but I think it’s totally worth it for these fantastic results. Don’t forget to send me your pictures when you make these hamantaschen. Have fun and Happy Purim!

In a stand mixer, I beat together the margarine and sugar then added the whipping cream and vanilla extract. You can use coconut oil in place of the margarine and it’a s 1:1 ratio. Just note that your hamantaschen will taste like coconut because of the oil. Once everything was combined, I slowly added the flour until the mixture was combined.

I divided the dough in to 6 equally sized pieces. It’s okay if they are a little bit off since you will be layering them later anyways.

I dolloped an 1/2 teaspoon of gel food coloring on to each piece of dough. At this point, you can choose to do all six colors of the rainbow or you can have fun with just a few colors or even an ombre effect with one color. The skies the limit!

Wearing gloves, I kneaded each piece of dough to work the color in. This was definitely the most tedious part but totally worth it! But you definitely want to wear those gloves otherwise you will have rainbow hands to go along with your rainbow hamantaschen. If you have trouble mixing the dye in to the dough, you can use your stand mixer but make sure to wipe it clean between each color so they don’t all blend together.

Next came the fun part! The layering. I lined a 9″x4″ loaf pan with a large piece of plastic wrap that hung over the edges then split each piece of dough in half. Starting with one of the red balls, I flattened out the piece of dough to the size of the pan with my hands and placed it on the bottom.

I did the same thing for each remaining color then began with the red again so I had two layers of rainbow dough (I sliced the dough in half so you could see the layers). I pressed down on the dough to make sure the layers were all touching.

I wrapped the dough in the plastic wrap and froze it for at least 1 hour. You can make this dough ahead of time and freeze for up to 3 months. When I was ready to make the hamantaschen, I preheated the oven to 375 degrees F. and lined two baking sheets with parchment paper. I removed the dough from the freezer and set it on the counter to warm up slightly for 5 minutes. With a sharp knife, I sliced the rainbow dough into 1/8 inch thick slices. The slices don’t have to be perfect but you definitely don’t want them to be too thick since each slice will become a hamantaschen.

I placed the rectangles of rainbow dough on the parchment lined baking sheets. I cut each rectangle with a circle cookie cutter and removed the excess scraps. Keep those scraps to create tie dyed hamantaschen. If your colors separate a bit, just press down on the dough with your hands to bring the dough together.

I filled the center of each rainbow circle with around one teaspoon of filling. I chose apricot and raspberry preserves as well as chocolate hazelnut butter but you can choose whatever fillings you want. You might be tempted to overfill your hamantaschen because you think it will taste better but don’t do it! Those hamantaschen will just open while they bake.

I brushed the edges of the circles with the whisked egg then pinched together the edges to create a triangle. If your layers don’t stick together perfectly, you can just pinch them together with your fingers.

I baked each sheet of hamantaschen for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the bottom. I transferred the hamantaschen to a wire rack to cool completely. And there you have it! Beautiful rainbow hamantaschen that look like art.

Seriously, don’t they look like I painted the color right on them?!?!?

I mentioned the rainbow dough scraps right? Don’t throw those away! Roll those precious scraps into a ball, roll out on your flour-dusted counter with a rolling pin to 1/4 inch thick and make tie dyed hamantaschen!

Rainbow Hamantaschen

kitchen-tested.com

Yields 4 dozen

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Ingredients

2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, vegan butter or margarine

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup (8 oz) unwhipped whipping cream (such as Rich’s Whip)

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp each red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple gel food coloring *do NOT use liquid food coloring for this recipe because the dough will become too sticky

1 egg, whipped (or cold water if you want this recipe to be completely egg free)

In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar then add the whipping cream and vanilla extract. Once everything is combined, slowly add the flour until the mixture is combined.

Divide the dough in to 6 equally sized pieces.

Place a 1/2 teaspoon of gel food coloring on to each piece of dough.

Wearing gloves, knead each piece of dough to work the color in. If you have trouble mixing the dye in to the dough, you can use your stand mixer but make sure to wipe it clean between each color so they don’t all blend together.

Line a 9″x 4″ loaf pan with a large piece of plastic wrap that hangs over the edges of the pan then split each piece of dough in half. Starting with one of the red balls, flatten out the piece of dough to the size of the pan with your hands and placed it on the bottom.

Do the same thing for each remaining color then begin with the red again so you end up with two layers of rainbow dough.

Lightly press down on the dough to make sure the layers are all touching.

Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and freeze it for 1 hour. You can make this dough ahead of time and freeze for up to 3 months.

When you are ready to make the hamantaschen, preheated the oven to 375 degrees F. and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Remove the dough from the freezer and set it on the counter to warm up slightly for 5 minutes.

With a sharp knife, slice the rainbow dough into 1/4 inch thick slices. The slices don’t have to be perfect but you definitely don’t want them to be too thick since each slice will become a hamantaschen.

Place the rectangles of rainbow dough on the parchment lined baking sheets. Cut each rectangle with a circle cookie cutter and remove the excess scraps. If your colors separate a big, just press down on the dough with your hands to bring the dough together.

Fill the center of each rainbow circle with around one teaspoon of the filling of your choice.

Brush the edges of the circles with the whisked egg then pinch together the edges to create a triangle. If your layers don’t stick together perfectly, you can just pinch them together with your fingers.

Bake each sheet of hamantaschen for 10-12 minutes, until lightly golden brown on the bottom.

I'm Melinda, founder of Kitchen-Tested.com. I'm a food blogger, food photographer and recipe developer. My blog, Kitchen Tested, with it’s easy to follow step by step photos and directions, has made a name for itself in the kosher food industry and I'm proud to share my original recipes with you!

Thanks for this great recipe. My hamentaschen were the talk of the shul. Here in the UK I used Dr Oetker's gel colouring. The blue was too green and the purple was really lilac, but turned pink when cooked. But everyone loved them all the same. Next year I will look for better colours.

I made these for our shul's Purim party....a success....I didn't have a pan that fit the dimensions when setting the layers up so I rolled the sheets of colored dough formed and wrapped using plastic wrap. One other thing I discovered, was I had better success when I made thinner slices and rolling them over with a rolling pen helped stop any separations. The only way to go with this is to use the Wilton's color gel (I only bought red yellow and blue and used my 1st grade art knowledge)....so pretty....oh and I used miniature chocolate peanut butter cups to fill the hamantaschen....SUCCESS!

Thank you very much for this amazing idea!!!! I ran across your recipe late last night and was obsessed with it all day today. Finally this afternoon I made rainbow Hamentashen. I live in "House of Food Allergies," so I used my favorite gluten-free Hamentashen recipe and rainbowized that. They didn't come out as pretty as yours, but they may have been easier to make, and they did look great! I was delighted!!! Thanks very much!!!!!

Made these over the weekend, they were really great. I didn't want to use coloring so i used turmeric for white, chlorella powder for green, and cocoa fro a dark brown. My filling was great, but the dough turned out a bit weird tasting from the flavour of the colourings i used. I'm definitely making them again, as the first batch is almost gone.

a co-worker of mine actually made these and they seemed so unbelievlby cool that I just know I have to give them a go!!! You totally solved the mistry of the stripped food coloring I love the chocolate stuffing it's like the perfect way to spend the holiday.
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Hi Melinda! I would love to make these for Purim this year. In the directions you mention coconut milk but I don't see that in the ingredient list; would that be the whipped topping? Thanks in advance :)

Thanks for pointing that out! My original recipe had coconut milk but it wasn't sweet enough and the dough was bland. The whipped topping is so much better. If you want to use coconut milk, I highly recommend adding more sugar to the dough.

I've only tried this recipe with whipping cream and coconut milk. You definitely can't omit it though. An egg won't work as a replacement. If you want to try this dairy, you can use heavy whipping cream with additional sugar.

Thank you. I will use the whipping cream. And, to be clear, the egg does not go in the dough, it's used to keep the corners together?
Making these with my 7 year old daughter, for our purim carnival, next weekend. Very excited!!!